The Club sweep events at Wallingford this weekend provide a tantalising opportunity for club athletes to see how they stack up against each other, getting their bearings ahead of the racing to come this summer. It can be an important stepping-stone on the path to prioritising boats for Henley; performance here may well give coaches a solid idea as to whether the eight, coxless or coxed fours should be stacked with the best athletes.
With that in mind, I’ll jump straight into the previews, highlighting who I believe will be the main contenders in each event.
Club Eights
This should be a very competitive event. With the top club crews entered in Challenge Eights, Club Eights is pretty wide open, and each heat has some significant speed. City of Cambridge will relish the opportunity to face off against the likes of Vesta, London, Twickenham and Kingston in what should be a fast heat. Cambridge have been going well in recent weeks, and these are their top guys – they will be looking to put in a strong showing, but Vesta is undoubtedly the form crew here. Vesta have enjoyed a real boost in speed this year, and had a really strong showing at HORR to come home 24th overall.
Elsewhere in the category, Lea ‘A’ and Marlow will be looking to crack into the upper echelons of the category. Lea certainly have the history and pedigree in the eight, but have struggled at senior club level in recent years. They’ll be hoping to turn that around as they look towards a potential Thames Cup entry. Marlow had a great showing at HORR and look to be in really good form this year – they’ll fancy themselves for the top spot, if they can catch Vesta. City of Bristol also performed well at the Head; they likely won’t have the speed to hang with the top two eights, but could scrape onto the podium.
Prediction
I see Vesta taking the win here, with Marlow in second and City of Bristol taking third.
Club Coxless Four
Club fours are always super exciting, with some really talented athletes coming together in a fiercely competitive event with a view towards winning the coveted Wyfold Challenge Cup. This year should be no different, with plenty of entries despite a large Challenge Coxless Four division.
A few crews will be doubled up from the eights, some of which should be pretty formidable. City of Bristol have two fours entered, and both should be quick. City of Cambridge have their top guys here; generally, Cambridge have had a really good top end but have struggled with depth, so this might be a real dark horse. Nottingham are coming off the back of an impressive showing at HORR, and given they don’t have an eight entered, these athletes will be fresh for the fours. Don’t discount Star, Hereford and of course London – all these boats should be pretty similar speed, and fiercely competitive.
Prediction
Very tricky to give a good prediction, but I’m going to go with a Nottingham win, with City of Bristol behind, and City of Cambridge third.
Club Coxed Four
The coxed four is a tough boat class. It’s a heavy, often quite sluggish boat, and getting it moving well is an under-appreciated skill. Crews entered here may well have an eye on the Britannia Cup – generally seen as the lowest-standard Club Cup at Henley – so they’ll be keen to stamp out some dominant performances early.
Immediately jumping out are Tideway Scullers, who don’t have an eight entered – nor a Challenge Coxed Four. This may well mean that this Club Coxed Four is their top four sweepers, in which case this four will be tricky to beat. They’ll be challenged though by the likes of Kingston (though Kingston do have a Challenge Coxed Four entry as well), Star and City of Cambridge, who might be stacking their Coxed Four over their Coxless Four. Never discount junior crews, either; The King’s School Chester have a four here that will look to be competitive with the club athletes.
Prediction
I think Tideway Scullers should come out on top here, with City of Cambridge taking second spot, and Kingston in third.
Best of luck to all crews.
Five Man
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